How do you calculate the surface area of a cylinder cut in half, and then in quarters, and then in eighths?

Question

This is for a chemistry practical involving alka-seltzer tablets. As we increase the surface area, the rate of reaction should increase as well.

Answer 1

Make a schematic drawing of whatever slicing you have performed, and work out the total surface area piece by piece.

For example, if a flat cylindrical tablet is sliced in half by cutting through a diameter of its top, the new surface area is half of what you began with, PLUS one rectangle for the newly exposed side. This is doable.